


I have the duty to protect you

by miangel29



Series: (I Can Be Your) Hero [2]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Action, Angst, Changkyun-Minhyuk-Jooheon brotherhood, Crack, Empath, Established Relationship, Gen, M/M, Monsta X Hero AU, OT7 Monsta X, OT7 brotherhood, Premonitions, Shapeshifting, Superheroes, Supersonic voice, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Time Control, force fields, hints of Hyunghyuk, ice manipulation, past trauma, snippets of Showki, super powers, super strength
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:26:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27095002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miangel29/pseuds/miangel29
Summary: Minhyuk takes Jooheon and Changkyun to the coast. It doesn't turn out to be fun day out they had imagined. Not when a threat emerges that not only tests their powers, but also their friendship and loyalty...as well as some of their ability to cope with their past.
Relationships: Chae Hyungwon/Lee Minhyuk, Son Hyunwoo | Shownu/Yoo Kihyun
Series: (I Can Be Your) Hero [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1945123
Comments: 9
Kudos: 23





	I have the duty to protect you

**Author's Note:**

> Kind reminder about editing on Changkyun's skills:
> 
> \- Italicized speeches are direct telepathic messages to Changkyun  
> \- Italicized speeches with single quotation markes are messages spoken in the group telepathic communication line
> 
> This Part 2 will be solely told from Changkyun's POV. Jookyun are Minhyuk's bbs and nobody can convince me otherwise :3
> 
> Enjoy!

**(I Can Be Your) Hero series**

**Part 02: I have the duty to protect you**

***

Kihyun had declared a strike.

It had been a week-long accumulation of having his constant reminders to clean the house being ignored and the six other men frequently whining about hunger and random cravings at odd times of the day. The last straw had been the dirty, ramyun-soup-stained pan Kihyun had woken up to on an otherwise regular and supposedly quiet Sunday morning.

“THAT IS _IT_ !” Kihyun had shrieked, the house clearly shaking with the force of his voice. “OUT! ALL OF YOU! I DON’T WANT YOU BACK UNTIL THE SUN HAS LONG GONE! I DON’T CARE HOW YOU FEED YOURSELVES! I AM _NOT_ COOKING FOR LAZY BRATS ANYMORE! JUST— _OUT_!”

Unsurprisingly, Hoseok, two watery eyes and a soft, questioning voice later, managed to weaken Kihyun’s murderous resolve enough to let him stay. Hyungwon never left as well, but only because he had slept through Kihyun’s entire rampage and nobody had realized he was still under the covers until much later that day. Hyunwoo was the default exception to the exile. Perhaps rightly so because without Hyunwoo, it was highly likely that Kihyun’s strike could go on for longer than the half-day they were afforded. (Although, ironically, as they would discover much, much later, it had been Hyunwoo's dirty pan that had triggered the entire thing)

And so Minhyuk had taken Hyungwon’s car out to bring his younger comrades away from Kihyun’s line of fire.

“Where should we go?” Minhyuk asked once they had driven out of their street.

“I’m hungry,” Jooheon whined from the passenger seat, idly playing with the windows, the wind comically whipping his hair into an unruly mess with every roll down of his window. Changkyun absentmindedly set Jooheon’s hair back into place every single time without lifting a finger.

“Why don’t we make it a road trip and head over to the east coast?” Changkyun suggested, shifting forward in his seat to speak closer to the other two.

Jooheon responded all too excitedly at that, bouncing in his seat. “We can have some _haemultang_ and _hui_ and _ganjanggejang*_ !” He looked at their driver excitedly. “Can we go, hyung? Please? Pleeeaaase? The last time we went to the coast, all we had was _fried chicken_!”

Minhyuk made a noise of annoyance at the memory. “All Yoo Kihyun’s fault,” he grumbled. “But it’s still February; it’ll still be cold at the coast.”

“Says the man who can shoot icicles out of his fingers,” Changkyun snorted.

A ball of snow appeared out of nowhere and aimed for Changkyun’s face. His quick thinking was the only thing stopping it from hitting him square in the face. As it was, the snowball froze in midair and took the literal window of opportunity that was Jooheon still playing with the controls and flew outside.

“I _meant_ ,” Minhyuk said, glaring at Changkyun through the rearview mirror, “it would be cold for you and Jooheonie. You guys don’t even have your winter coats with you.”

Changkyun shrugged. “We don’t have to go to the actual beach, hyung. We can just wander around town and go restaurant hopping.” 

“Yeah, hyung!” Joohoen echoed excitedly. “It’ll be fun! We can try all sorts of seafood we usually can’t have at home because Kihyun-hyung hates fishy food.”

Jooheon was clearly brimming with so much excitement that his emotions were beginning to unravel his control over his shapeshifting, even if mildly. Changkyun could see Jooheon’s eyes change colours and shapes before even his entire face began to grow snouts and whiskers. It was nothing like Jooheon’s usual intentional shift where he smoothly formed an animal in the count of seconds, but more like a constant change in his demeanor that never fully settled into one particular being, animal or otherwise.

One glance at Jooheon’s exhilaration and Changkyun’s anticipative gaze and Minhyuk let out a defeated sigh.

“Alright, we’ll go to the east coast.”

The twin whoops of his passengers brought the mood of the car up exponentially and that enthusiasm persisted throughout their two-hour drive to the east. It didn't seem like Minhyuk could honestly say that he minded.

***

Two restaurants and an exorbitant amount of food for three people later, Changkyun thought it would be nice to enjoy the last vestiges of winter by the beach, nevermind the wind was blowing a chilly draft around the coastal city. They huddled together for warmth, Changkyun trying his best to create a force field around them without being too noticeable and Minhyuk lazily redirecting the cold air away from them. Jooheon had offered to shift into a polar bear so the other two could take warmth in his fur, but his idea was vetoed for fear of the chaos that would ensue with having a wild Arctic animal suddenly appearing in a densely populated town.

“We should have gone west so we could have caught the sunset,” Minhyuk lamented.

“And send the picture to Kihyun-hyung like the biggest passive aggressive ‘fuck you’ to him kicking us out of the house?” Changkyun asked, raising his eyebrows at the man sitting on Jooheon’s other side.

A cold draft somehow snuck through his force field and hit Changkyun in the face. “Don’t use your mind reading powers on me, you ungrateful twit!” Minhyuk scolded without any heat. “I drove you all the way here.”

“I don’t need to read your mind to know that you and Kihyun-hyung have it out for each other,” Changkyun grumbled, rubbing at his nose where Minhyuk’s wind attack had hit him and turned it a blooming red.

“We don’t ‘have it out for each other’,” Minhyuk objected. “We just...aren’t the most compatible of personalities.”

Jooheon snorted. “You keep saying that but everytime Kihyun-hyung so much as runs into the smallest trouble, you’re the first one to start panicking. Even Hyunwoo-hyung doesn’t spiral as badly and he’s _dating_ Kihyun-hyung.”

Jooheon earned himself a whack on the head for that. “Just because our personalities aren’t compatible, doesn’t mean I can’t _care_ about him,” Minhyuk said. “I care about _all of you_.” He paused, the crashing waves thundering. “You’re my family.”

Minhyuk was tackled into the bottom of a body pile before he could even process the coos of adoration his younger companies had emitted. Changkyun’s control over his force field wavered and the wind whipped at their clothes and hair, but none of them cared. Not for the cold, the sand nor the odd sight of two fully grown men showering one other adult male with kisses and hugs and adoration.

What _did_ finally catch their attention was the sudden absence of noise. While there was nothing inherently wrong with silence, but to be at the seaside, where the winds had been howling and the waves had crashed with the strength and sound of an angry rampage, for things to be _too quiet_ , was unnatural.

“Something’s not right,” Jooheon said, pulling himself out of their cuddle pile to look around at their surroundings that had suspiciously turned very, very still. His eyes and ears twitched ever so slightly and a sniff of his nose told them that Jooheon was trying to exert his enhanced senses to identify the problem.

Even if the eerie silence that had dropped onto the coastal city hadn’t tipped them off, the sudden screaming in Changkyun’s head set their mental alarms blaring.

_CHANGKYUN, WHATEVER YOU DO, DO_ NOT _LET MINHYUK OUT OF YOUR SIGHT!_ Hoseok’s voice quickly grew in strength and volume as Changkyun’s mental channel valve began to open. _I REPEAT: DO_ NOT _LEAVE MINHYUK ALONE_.

Changkyun barely had time to mentally ask Hoseok what he had seen in his premonition to warrant the fear and desperation in his voice as he gave that warning, because the sight before them pulled his full focus and attention on it. Where the shoreline had been, white waves kissing the sand in intermittent laps, now left nothing but at least a mile of wet sand, floundering fish, and quickly drying coral. In the horizon, where the sky was darkening, they could just make out a looming silhouette, skyscraper high and accompanied by a deep, trembling howl that shook the grounds and sky around them.

“Shit,” Changkyun cursed, getting to his feet.

Jooheon and Minhyuk had taken their ready stance as well by his side, the trio looking towards the silhouette that had begun to move in ripples on the horizon.

“Masks,” Minhyuk reminded, pulling his own out of the pocket of his jacket and securing the ice blue material over his face. Jooheon and Changkyun didn’t need to be told twice, slipping on their own respective leopard print and violet masks on.

“Hyung, we’ve never gone against something that big,” Changkyun said, taking deep breaths to gather his mental strength for the impending battle. “And definitely not without the whole team.”

“It’s alright,” Minhyuk said, eyes gaining that steely focus whenever they faced a fight, hands clenching and unclenching with frost gathering in crystals. “Open the comm line. We won’t have enough time to wait for Kihyun and Hyunwoo-hyung to get here, but Hoseok can help us if he gets a premonition or if we need to channel his empathy through you.”

Changkyun nodded, immediately letting four other voices in and being barraged by a litany of concerned questions.

_‘What’s going on?’_

_‘Describe the monster. Maybe we can help strategize from here.’_

_‘Keep the civilians safe.’_

_‘Do NOT leave Minhyuk alone!’_

At the last shout from Hoseok, Changkyun had to quickly divert Minhyuk’s mental connection. But the others had heard, not exempting Jooheon, who quickly threw Changkyun an alarmed look. The two youngest shared a somber look before nodding minutely and turning back to what they had to face.

“Jooheon, I need you to go into the calmer waters–far away from that thing, where it’s safe. And I need you to figure out _what_ it is and _where_ it’s weakness lies,” Minhyuk instructed.

Jooheon hesitated, looking back at Changkyun, hating that he had been instructed to do the exact thing Hoseok had warned them not to do. But Minhyuk’s eyes had turned almost crystal white and his hair had begun to sparkle with silver in determination and authority. He was on the very precipice of taking on his full ice form and it only amplified the gravity of the situation.

“ _Go_ ,” Minhyuk said in a low grumble to Jooheon.

It was only when Changkyun gave him a reassuring nod that Jooheon sprinted away, form taking on a cheetah as he did to reach the other, further end of the coast where the waters were still serenely splashing onto the shore. They could very vaguely see him leap into the water, shape shifting into something with fins and a tail before he hit the water.

‘ _I could slow it down_ ,’ came Hyungwon’s voice. ‘ _It’ll give Kihyun and Hyunwoo-hyung time to get there to back you up_.’

“No, you can’t!” Minhyuk objected immediately, breath coming out in cold puffs. “You’re too far away. It’ll take too long. Your body wouldn’t be able to take it.”

‘ _But Min_ –.’

“I WON’T RISK IT!” Minhyuk cried out, icy shards shooting out of his entire body.

The communications line went quiet. Not because Changkyun had cut it off, but nobody dared speak another word at Minhyuk’s outburst. Everybody but Minhyuk had heard Hoseok’s warning, everybody had realized just how dangerous this particular battle was for Minhyuk. They were all thinking the same thing and connecting the dots with the way Minhyuk was uncharacteristically responding to the situation.

‘ _Min…._ ’

“I’ll—we’ll be fine,” Minhyuk said, glancing at Changkyun.

The way Minhyuk had tried to reassure Hyungwon about himself in singular form, rather than the three as a group, made Changkyun think that Hyungwon knew something unspoken in Minhyuk’s words. And maybe, more than the rest of them, even Hoseok who had seen the premonition himself, Hyungwon was the most frightened.

‘ _Kihyun and I are already on our way anyway_ ,’ Hyunwoo’s voice told them, his ragged breathing and the occasional sounds of wind letting them know that he was possibly running and jumping atop buildings to get them there faster. ‘ _Kihyun might get there sooner. He’ll be freer to glide once it gets dark._ ’

“You won’t get here in time,” Minhyuk insisted. “But that’s alright. We can handle this, can’t we Kkukkungie?” The smile he gave Changkyun was wide and familiar, but they didn’t reach the iciness in his eyes.

‘ _Hyung, it’s hard to get close enough to figure out whatever that thing is,_ ’ Jooheon’s voice resounded in their heads. ‘ _But some of the sea creatures told me that it came from a sentient volcano a few kilometres further east. I think if we can drive it back there, we can push it back into the volcano and seal it in._ ’

“Thanks, Jooheonie. That sounds like the best plan we have,” Minhyuk said, facing the gigantic body of water front on now.

It still hadn’t moved from where it loomed, a distance away, but the rippling tide was slowly returning and they could tell that whatever it was would be by the shoreline in no time. They had to act and they had to act _now_.

“Changkyun, head back to the town and set up a force field around the residential areas. I’ll–.”

“NO,” Changkyun instantly protested. “I’m staying here with you.”

He had probably not expected their youngest to rebel so brazenly against him, so Minhyuk frowned at the only other person standing at that beach with him. “Changkyun, I need you to keep the civilians safe.”

“I can keep them safe from here,” Changkyun reasoned. “I can set up the force field just around the beach and around the bay. If we keep the fight here, that should be enough.”

“But–.”

“Hyung, I’m staying here with you,” Changkyun said, voice firm and determined, eyes conveying just as much as he met Minhyuk’s head on. “I’m not leaving.”

Minhyuk opened his mouth, undoubtedly to argue Changkyun again, and if he had, Changkyun was almost certain that he would not have been able to counter whatever Minhyuk had to say. Fortunately for him, it was at that moment that the water-being let out another thunderous howl, drawing their attention once again to the issue at hand.

“Fine.” Minhyuk was clearly unhappy at the circumstances in which they were in, more so that Changkyun had refused his orders, but there wasn’t time to pull rank on him. They had to drive the monster back to the sea. “Make sure your force field is enough to drive away any stranglers from getting too close. Stay here so you can keep your force field in check.”

Changkyun felt his irritation surface. “Hyung, I’m staying right by your side. You take one step forward, I do too. You run into the water, I’m right there with you. You can’t stop me. You _know_ I can help push the monster back to its hell hole.” Minhyuk refused to look at him, let alone respond. Changkyun took his frosty hand anyway, gripping it tightly. “We can do this together.”

Minhyuk looked at their joined hands, the crystals melting in the warmth of Changkyun’s grip. He swallowed heavily, glancing up at Changkyun, his voice breaking for the first time that entire afternoon and his frozen gaze softened. “Please don’t get hurt.”

“You too, hyung,” Changkyun said, squeezing their grip.

“Okay,” Minhyuk nodded. “Let’s go.”

***

It turned out Hyunwoo and Kihyun’s arrival had been perfect timing. Minhyuk had frozen the coastline for miles around and with Changkyun’s telekinesis, they had been able to physically push the water giant to the sentient volcano Jooheon had located. Even with the whirlpool that Jooheon had created in his shark form, it had exerted so much strength and stamina from the three of them to just drive the monster there that they had grown much too weak to make that last push. They also hadn’t considered how they could possibly ‘seal’ the monster in once they got it back under the depths of the ocean.

Kihyun had come gliding out of the now starry sky, the soundwaves of his voice keeping him hovering enough for them to speak verbally.

“Hyunwoo-hyung’s coming! It’s just a bit harder for him to swim through with all the current!” Kihyun told them.

“Hyung, help us get it in the volcano down there!” Changkyun screamed from where he hovered in his force field bubble, sweating bullets from trying to keep their mental communication line open, keeping the force field around the coast in tact, keeping himself airborne, and projecting the rest of his physical energy in the direction of the being.

Jooheon was perhaps the one currently in the biggest danger, though, currently the only person actually _in_ the water and in very close proximity with the monstrosity. Even with how close they had come to the monstrosity, they still couldn’t make neither heads nor tails of it. It was simply a mass body of water, large and towering, creating waves and currents that destroyed all sea life below it. Any other person than Jooheon and they would have suffered the same fate as the crushed coral at the sea floor. But Jooheon had been instrumental in keeping the monster in place, keeping it close to the point of its origin that they had to put it through.

But it was Minhyuk that Changkyun worried for: his hands were trembling and ice had begun to creep up his arms from the sheer exertion of power. By now his formerly blonde hair had half turned silver and his eyes were glowing blue. The ice platform he was standing on had begun to crack and his feet were slipping back ever so slightly at the push back the monster was giving them.

“Ki…,” Minhyuk’s voice was rasp, his breath coming out in cold puffs. “Strike it with a soundwave from above. We need to distract it so Jooheon can broaden the whirlpool to suck it in.”

Kihyun did just as he’d been asked, the water being immediately directing its canons of water attacks now at the skies. It was much harder for the monster to attack skywards, the strength of its shots dampened by the mere laws of gravity. Kihyun was also quick and agile, dropping and rising at an impressionable speed with his soundwaves. It gave Minhyuk and Changkyun a minute to breathe, keeping their power hold a little less than full strength. Not long after, Hyunwoo’s voice broke through the mental link.

‘ _I’m here_ ,’ he said. ‘ _Tell me what I should do, Minhyuk_.’

Changkyun and Minhyuk glanced around them, immediately spotting Hyunwoo close to the root of Minhyuk’s ice platform, floating in the waves like it was simply another day out at the beach for him. The man did not look as if he had just travelled over 150 kilometres in under an hour and swum into the middle of the ocean without any assisting tools.

‘ _Hyung, we need you to seal the volcano once that thing gets inside,_ ’ Minhyuk transmitted. ‘ _Jooheon is trying to suck it in with a whirlpool_.’

Hyunwoo nodded just as a bloodcurdling howl resonated through the air. One glance at the monster and it was apparent that Jooheon had managed to widen and intensify the perimeters of his whirlpool enough to create a strong enough vortex that caught onto the monster, pulling it in the direction of the silent volcano. That was cue for Minhyuk and Changkyun to push through the last of their remaining strength to make sure the monster did not pull out of the vortex, Kihyun giving them the extra edge by attacking from above.

Hyunwoo was nowhere to be seen amidst the stormy ocean, but just as they managed to slowly drive the monster under the depths of the sea, its form depleting as it sunk into the center of the earth, they could hear the sound of crumbling earth. Hyunwoo’s power was supposedly super strength, but time and time again, he surprised his members by demonstrating more than mere strength and endurance. Like at that instance, when he had gone underwater in the middle of the ocean, no equipment in hand, no help from Changkyun or Kihyun to create a breathing space for him, and begun hitting a nearby trench.

The trench was crumbling under Hyunwoo’s punches, smaller boulders already dropping to the ocean floor. The water being was already in its last, desperate efforts to push back against the joined powers of the four superhumans. With a loud scream, Minhyuk redirected most of the surrounding water into a glacier to propel the monster further into the volcano, timed perfectly with the largest boulder that Hyunwoo managed to break off the trench, falling atop the volcano opening and sealing it for good.

In a matter of seconds, Jooheon’s whirlpool unravelled, breaking off into waves that eventually petered out in the distance. The ocean regained its calmness, the tide returned to its regular nighttime disturbance. The sounds of the night sea slowly took over the thunder of battle that had taken place mere moments before.

Jooheon emerged out of the water as a large blue whale, Hyunwoo on his back, finally looking somewhat drained, but still very much animated. Kihyun quickly fell out of his glide to land on Jooheon’s back, wrapping Hyunwoo in a tight hug. Neither Changkyun nor Minhyuk could hear the words they exchanged, but the kiss Hyunwoo planted on the top of his head was enough of an indication.

“We did it,” Minhyuk said, looking at Changkyun, breathing heavily, his eyes and hair slowly returning to normal. “Good job, Kkung.”

Changkyun foresaw Minhyuk’s fall before the man physically collapsed himself and so he also had the forethought to send his energy towards Minhyuk just as his ice platform cracked into pieces. The blue whale below him wailed a long-drawn echo, almost tipping over the two men on his back if one of them hadn’t grabbed onto the whale’s ridged back. The panicked animal’s scream resonated even through their mental link, causing those not physically present to fret once again.

‘ _It’s okay_ ,’ Changkyun told them all. ‘ _I’ve got him_.’ 

He tried to send Hoseok a little nudge for help, hoping he’d be able to channel through some serenity into everyone. The entire fight had left all of them on edge even before it had begun and with Minhyuk fainting at the conclusion of it, a lot of nerves remained rattled. Hoseok must have gotten the hint because Changkyun felt a sense of ease immediately stream through the connection he maintained. Calmness slowly seeped into his heart, allowing him a little peace of mind, as tired as he was by then.

‘ _We’re about half an hour away_ ,’ Hyungwon said. ‘ _We’ve booked a place in the town for the night so everyone can rest. I’ll give Changkyun the details and we’ll meet you all there_.’

The blue whale below Changkyun and Minhyuk gave another wail, albeit a lot less stressed this time. Changkyun nodded and they both began making their way back to shore, Changkyun transporting Minhyuk telekinetically while Hyunwoo and Kihyun remained on Jooheon’s back.

They were all still drenched when they reached the car parked by the beach, their masks a soggy piece of clothing they could finally remove from their faces in the safe confines of the car and the darkness of the night. Minhyuk was still unconscious, but he had fully returned blonde and his fingers were no longer frosty. Hyunwoo drove them to their accommodation for the night, Kihyun keeping him company in the passenger seat. Jooheon and Changkyun cradled Minhyuk in their laps, no shift in their older comrade’s insentient figure.

Changkyun used the last bit of remaining strength he had to search through Minhyuk’s mind, fighting against his own integrity about invading someone’s private thoughts without consent. But he felt he was justified in doing so. He was just concerned for his hyung’s well-being. He just wanted to make sure Minhyuk was okay. And so he dove in.

A mere five seconds later, Changkyun resurfaced. What he saw, what he _felt_ while going into Minhyuk’s mind was beyond anything he had prepared himself for. Even only five seconds of deep dive had suffocated Changkyun to the point that it took all of his strength and focus to pull himself back out. Changkyun didn’t realise he was staring straight into Minhyuk’s open eyes, still reeling from what he had just witnessed.

_Don’t_ , Minhyuk’s voice echoed in Changkyun’s head. Not a reprimand against Changkyun’s invasion of his mind without permission, but a warning to never attempt something so risque ever again. Minhyuk knew the state of his mind and it frightened Changkyun that such an outwardly bright and cheery man held so much pain.

“Minhyuk-hyung, you’re awake!” Jooheon’s voice broke through Minhyuk and Changkyun’s silent staring. “We were so worried!” Jooheon tried his best to give Minhyuk a hug in their current position, not letting the cramped space defeat his enthusiasm.

“Good,” Kihyun said from the passenger seat. “We’re almost there.”

Hyungwon and Hoseok were already there when they arrived, rushing to their car before Hyunwoo even properly parked. Hoseok guided Minhyuk inside first, the other five letting them be, knowing that Hoseok needed to make sure Minhyuk was relaxed enough to properly rest. Hyungwon stayed behind, giving each one of them a tight hug and words of relief. Changkyun was last and Hyungwon lingered.

“Thank you for saving Minhyuk,” he whispered quietly into Changkyun’s ear.

It was becoming a theme after every battle, the words of gratitude directed at Changkyun for carrying out the messages in his head. But it made Changkyun the only person privy to the individual and interpersonal issues his group of friends had to face. It wasn’t a burden for him, it didn’t weigh on him like it was a problem, but he wondered, he _feared_ if these were issues that the group should have discussed together, should try to resolve with each other’s support.

But as Changkyun dug into the ramyun that Kihyun had cooked for them once everyone had gotten into a change of clothes and the adrenaline was starting to seep out of their system, he had to rethink that thought. Because the Minhyuk that stepped out of his room, no longer needing to be supported but Hyungwon now standing just behind him lest he suddenly lose strength again, was once again the Minhyuk that had driven him and Jooheon to the east coast in the first place: bright smile, loud voice, even louder laughter.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” Kihyun asked, handing over a bowl of ramyun for Minhyuk who was already trying to eat straight from the pot.

“Well I wouldn’t have needed to rest if you hadn’t kicked me out of the house in the first place and we didn’t have to battle that water thing,” Minhyuk excitedly accepting the bowl of ramyun he was offered, even as he threw the underhanded comment at Kihyun.

“Well if you would just clean the house once in a while!” Kihyun shrieked back.

And so their overnight stay became filled with Kihyun and Minhyuk’s loud bickering, Jooheon trying to mediate between the two, Hyunwoo and Hoseok eating the remainder of the ramyun from the pot, and Hyungwon taking a seat by Changkyun, sharing a small smile before he pulled the younger man into a one-armed hug. It was another thank you, silent this time around, but it was also an offer for Changkyun to let his head rest on Hyungwon’s shoulder. A chance for Changkyun to relieve himself of bearing the weight of knowledge of everything that happened within the group. A chance to relax himself.

***

Notes on Korean food included at the beginning:

* _haemultang_ : spicy seafood hot pot

_hui_ : raw fish/sashimi

_ganjanggejang_ : marinated raw crabs

**Author's Note:**

> The second part to superheroes MX!
> 
> A much heftier chapter in terms of both length and plotline. This focuses more on the brotherhood of the seven men, rather than anything particularly romantic, but it does heavily imply who are romantically involved. Here, you will get a better sense of each of their powers and the extent of it. But also...a peek into some of their background stories?
> 
> This is my favourite part of the series to date (I'm almost finished with Pt 3 and can't wait to start working on Pt 4!!!). I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it. Oh, and if it isn't obvious, titles to the series are translated lyrics from Hero.
> 
> As always, let me know what you think!
> 
> xoxox  
> miangel29


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